


Curse or Something Like That

by timahina



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: M/M, Middle School AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 21:57:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5107130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timahina/pseuds/timahina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With every action, there is a positive and negative reaction. At least whereas Jounouchi and Seto were involved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Curse or Something Like That

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheCurlyFlea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCurlyFlea/gifts).



It wasn’t the most ideal days to start for the students of Domino Junior High. The bus rolled in, barely having the students arrive on time in the midst of a rainstorm.

Among them were the usual lot of second years whose parents were too busy to drop them off or were less inclined to get a bike. “Geez… I spent nearly two hours on my hair…” Anzu sighed. One of the few days she decided not to watch the weather channel and bet her luck on the sunshine or more likely, cloudy overcast. Only problem, she was wrong and her hair and uniform were about to pay the price.

“Oi, Mazaki!” She turned around and saw Jounouchi coming out of the bus, umbrella overhead. “You uh… need a cover or something?” He extended the umbrella out to her with a toothy grin.

She almost didn’t want to take it. What would happen if she did? She knew his reputation: wannabe gangster with a nasty habit of getting hold of porn, even flipping a girl’s skirt every now and then. Anzu made certain to eye his hands before delving under the safety of the umbrella with him. “Thanks… Jounouchi-kun.”

“Eh, no problem. You can pay me back later.”

She elbowed him and he laughed as they made their way inside.

_Annoying_. He wrinkled his nose at the scene as he averted his eyes from the display before him. Like the girl Jounouchi helped, he too forgot his umbrella and realized far too late how desperately he needed it and was stuck using an oversized jacket he luckily found as a shield.

Many days went like this and the pattern was becoming increasingly annoying - at least for Seto Kaiba. An idiotic classmate would incur some unfortunate mishap, such as no lead for their pencils or dried up ink or no umbrella to shield them from becoming a slop.

And Jounouchi would appear, as always to the rescue of his fallen classmate – aiding them. Something about good karma and whatnot. But the rescue was always… ill-timed and to the wrong target.

While aid was given to the student, without fail the same circumstance happened to Seto.

If Jounouchi helped one student carry PE equipment back inside, Seto was stuck lumping the other heavy set by himself. If Jounouchi gave out lead, he suddenly had no more to speak of. If the blond idiot helped one person, Seto was given the excess of misfortune.

_He’s a jinx of some kind. Perhaps a curse inflicted on me._

It was an interesting situation he found himself in, constantly the target of the bad vibes counteracted by Jounouchi’s good deeds. Though by now, he wondered how the troublemaker never tried one of those deeds on him.

“Morning, Kaiba-”

“You are far too beneath me to even _think_ about greeting me, remove yourself from my line of sight!” Seto said curtly, throwing the wet jacket over the smaller boy with the wild spiky hair. Yugi Mutou was his name, he remembered. Another annoying good-doer like Jounouchi, only… naïve.

Much more naïve.

“Hey!” He yelled, tossing the garment off his head. “You don’t need to be so rude! I was just saying hello…”

“Be grateful you got pelted with that jacket, it’s the closest you’ll have to acknowledgement and even getting a hint of my greatness.” He mocked him further. Seto never knew why his classmates tried to converse with him. All were below him in skills, brains, wit – anything he could think of, he was just better.

A hand pushed roughly on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. Seto huffed, angry that someone _dared_ to lay their disgusting lower class hands on him. “Who do you think-” He stopped.

_Of course it’s him…_

“You were rude to my friend, Kaiba. Mind apologizing?”

He snorted.

“I’m sorry he’s so beneath me and so pathetically weak to need your protection.”

Yugi winced. It wasn’t as if that was the first time he heard that, especially to his face but still… Insults were never pleasant to listen to.

“I meant a _real_ apology, rich boy.” Jounouchi had a reputation for being a thug and a wannabe gangster, always in and out of fights and never even had bruises of his own from his bouts. It’s not like Seto was afraid to fight him, he was ready and able. But the last thing he wanted was the call home about fights.

A hand was placed on his shoulder – why were people touching him today? First Jounouchi, and now- “Please don’t fight, it’s fine Jounouchi. It really is.” Yugi tried to come between them. His hands on their shoulders with a friendly smile meant to ease the tension. “Kaiba-kun is probably just having a bad morning.”

_The last thing I ever need in this life is any help, especially from you, Yugi._

“Oh… is that it?” Jounouchi knew what he was trying to do. He constantly tried to make sure he avoided fights, at least on school premises lest suspension would occur. “Well, if you say so Yugi.”

Seto wasn’t even surprised Jounouchi stopped. Yugi asked it and of course he would comply. They walked off together to class and he watched them, slowly seething.

This was not his day.

() () () () () () () () () ()

_Cleaning duty._

Why did this have to be his day for cleanup? Not only was he stuck cleaning this miserable excuse for a classroom but would have to suffer in the midday rain as well. “Oh, it’s _your_ turn for cleaning duty, Kaiba… it’s only fair after all…” He grumbled under his breath angrily.

It was not his day, he was nominated for it. Not voluntarily of course, but by Jounouchi and Yugi. All because he wouldn’t apologize for saying Yugi was beneath him. “Low class revenge…” He heard laughter outside the classroom, other students finishing up their cleaning assignments whereas he was only halfway done.

In a huff, he dropped the mop and fell to the ground. Seto wondered about that curse from earlier. Perhaps… perhaps if he hadn’t been so rude to Yugi, he would be home by now. Or he still would have been given cleaning duty somehow but Jounouchi probably would’ve volunteered in his place.

That was possible? Perhaps. Maybe.

“Unlikely.” He sighed, accepting the inevitable.

Seto picked up the mop again and sat up, stretching his back before going back to cleaning. The sooner he got this done, the sooner he could get out and potentially find transportation home that didn’t involve having to call home.

It went by faster than he thought. Sheer willpower was a powerful thing after all. Though Seto wasn’t sure how willpower could get him home dry. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and find another jacket on the side of the road. This time, I’ll luck out and get an umbrella. Even a broken one would be good at this rate.”

“How about a working one?”

Seto jumped back in surprise away from his locker, slamming onto the ones at the side from the sudden new voice. “J-Jounouchi! Don’t sneak up on me like that again!” Humiliation flooded his senses, how could he get caught off guard like that! And more importantly, why was Jounouchi still hanging around?

“Sorry, sorry. Forgot rich boys don’t like surprises.” Jounouchi laughed as he rubbed the back of his head, fidgeting slightly. “Well um, since ya heading home now and all… I was kinda wondering if you well…”

“Out with it, Jounouchi.”

“Ya wanna walk home together? Or at least till it stops raining?” Seto’s eyes widened. Why was he given charity of all things? From Jounouchi?

Wasn’t the curse still applied?

Jounouchi was supposed to guide someone else home while he got drenched in the rain. Why was he messing with the order of things? Then again, Seto shouldn’t be complaining since this offered him a way back without suffering in the rain. “… why?”

He had to know.

“Well, ya see… me and Yugi kinda felt bad about putting you up for cleaning duty.” _Well, Yugi did anyway_. “And since you kinda threw away your jacket earlier, wouldn’t be right to just make ya get sick in the rain and all so…”

“You’re actually offering to help me?” Admittedly, Seto thought Jounouchi was beneath him. He thought this, knew this, believed it and acted on it. But with all that out of the way, they still never got along with how opposite they were.

Jounouchi nodded at his question, his eyes diverting away from Seto’s line of sight as though he were embarrassed. “I mean, if you cool with it. If not, that’s fine. But ya can’t say I never offered to be nice.” He opened up his umbrella and was making his way out from under the overhang, waiting for Seto to appear next to him.

“I…” Seto sighed heavily and picked up his bag. “This wouldn’t be the worst thing I’ve done, so fine. I’ll go with you.” Jounouchi grinned and Seto wanted nothing more than to wipe that smile off. “But only because you owe me this after cleaning duty. And making me lose that jacket too.”

“I don’t know why you tossed your jacket away anyways.”

“Because it wasn’t mi- I mean…” Seto groaned and crossed his arms, trying not to keep too much distance away from Jounouchi lest he be pelted by the rain. “It broke.” That was stupid. So, so dumb. But still, Jounouchi being nice to him. Offering to help wasn’t something he was used to. Maybe this curse thing really was all in his head. Why was he so hung up on Jounouchi helping everyone but him anyways…?

“Okaaay. Whatever you say, Kaiba.”


End file.
